Newsline: Egypt summons British ambassador

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador in Cairo to protest comments he made after a judge sentenced three Al-Jazeera English journalists to three years prison each for reporting “false news.” The ministry said in a statement that John Casson’s comments were “unacceptable interference” in the country’s judiciary, and “incompatible with diplomatic norms and practices.” In a post on Twitter, spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Egypt “rejects any foreign criticism of judicial verdicts.” The court sentenced the Canadian Mohammed Fahmy, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohammed on Saturday, reigniting international criticism over the long-running case and highlighting authorities’ crackdown on free speech. Speaking to television cameras in Arabic after the verdict, Casson said he was “shocked and concerned by the sentences,” in a case that is of “profound interest to Egyptians because it has become a symbol of the basis for stability in the new Egypt.” Several other foreign diplomats at the trial also condemned the verdict, but Casson may have been the only one to speak in Arabic to domestic television stations.